welcome to the white house correspondents dinner. as you heard, the nerd prom, but unlike the real prom, most of you are able to find a date this time. the president rod mrs. obama. we thank her for being here again. i brought my own first lady, surely. my kids, my parents, my sister, who saw me at the prom, and has photographic evidence of my blue tux and mullet to prove it -- prove it. after last year's dinner, tom brokaw had some blunt words about this dinner. he said symbolically this is an event that sell -- separates the press from the people they are supposed to serve. a fair criticism. maybe this dinner became a little less a celebration of the first amendment in the 21st amendment. of course, it should not be like that. the focus should not be on what the helton is serving but who we are serving tomorrow. should be serving the public and the next generation of journalists. that is something i've thought a lot about since becoming president. to be fair, i do not have a lot of time. few people know what it looks like to have t